In The Summertime
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Category: Music

In The Summertime Press:

The Wrights' version of the Roger Miller's song In The Summertime was featured in a USA Today article called Forever the Twang Shall Meet. Journalist Brian Mansfield picked the song for his weekly playlist. Artists also included were The Avett Brother's, Ricky Scaggs, Bruce Springsteen, Del McCoury, Ry Cooder and more.

"The Wrights took rollicking country hits, slowed them down, added luminous harmonies where appropriate and revealed emotional layers that had been covered by time and tempo. Those versions are now available on this splendid showcase of song sense, harmony singing and spare but spot-on musicianship"  4 STARS

-Peter Cooper, The Tennesean

"The soulful harmonies Adam and Shannon sing on "In the Summertime" are utterly gorgeous. The duo accompanies itself simply with a quiet, acoustic guitar, leaving the vocals upfront and unadorned. The effect is a friendly and inviting sound with plenty of heart." 

-Conor McKay, NPR

"You expect consistency in a set of home-made recordings that feature little more than a guitar or two and a voice or two, but if consistency's all you get, it's probably not enough to keep you coming back. So chalk one up for The Wrights, whose spare In The Summertime serves up a set of covers from sources that range from Mississippi John Hurt and Leadbelly to Morphine by way of Roger Miller, Del McCoury and Tim Carroll. Highlights include a wisely brief, almost surly "punk"-influenced take on the Carter Family's "Single Girl, Married Girl" and a reading of Stuart Hamblen's "Open Up Your Heart (And Let The Sunshine In)" that has just the right amount of sugar. Really, there's not a clunker in the self-released bunch--and it's a given that Adam and Shannon can dish them out onstage in the same way."

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The Washington Post Reviews The Wrights

Arlo Guthrie once told me that having a famous relative can open doors for you, but it can't help you once you step into office. Being Alan Jackson's nephew surely opened doors for Adam Wright, but it's the singing and songwriting of Wright and his wife, Shannon, that has impressed executives and critics alike. The duo's major-label debut, 2005's "Down This Road" was a gem of classic country duets in the tradition of Charlie and Ira Louvin or Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. That it struck out on the charts says more about contemporary country radio than about the Wrights. The duo's second album "The Wrights" confirms the promise of that debut.

--Geoffrey Hines

The Washington Post

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The Wrights Celebrate New Release & Ten Years Together
Category: Music

The Wrights’ new self-titled album on ACR/Mailboat Records will be available online Tuesday January 29, 2008.  Check out itunes.com, walmart.com, thewrightsmusic.com, borders.com, mailboatrecords.com or your favorite online store for purchase . Border’s Books and Music and select independent record stores will carry the new release February 5, 2008.

... surpassingly lovely songs that explore the spectrum of romance ... Everything here is elevated to a higher level by the presence of Shannon Wright, possessed of one of the most charismatic and cutting voices in modern country.

-- Performing Songwriter, January/February 2008

"The undeniable literacy within the Wrights’ songwriting, and the pinpoint harmonies of this talented husband/wife duo, showcase what is truly pure about country music."

- Douglas Waterman, American Songwriter Magazine

Check out www.thewrightsmusic.com for entire reviews, more news and tour information.

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Solomon Burke Records "You're the Kind of Trouble"

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Down This Road

Go ahead and throw the term 'the better half' out the window. Specifically, toss it out the window of the "Lincoln Town Car on a country road" that Shannon and Adam Wright feel describes their debut ACR (Alan's Country Records)/RCA album, Down This Road.

Love etched in verse, these twelve, self-penned compositions embrace, explore and even joke about their marriage, ultimately confirming that it, as their music, is one built upon equal partnership. Fueled by country songs without cliché, as set against a humid-sweet Georgia backdrop of honky tonk-meets-blues bar, the duo mine a deep creative heritage. (And do note Georgia. The decidedly country Wrights nuance so many who have hung their hats there: Ray to Hoagy, Chet to Gram to Alan...) As a result, The Wrights' songs are a slow-boil of musical ideals come together, honed from the get-go in rural hometowns, the clubs of downtown Atlanta, and eventually, the studio and stages of Nashville, Tennessee.

Chance brought the couple together in January, 1998 when Adam, then paying bills as a cook in Newnan, Georgia ("The Redneck Gourmet," his wife notes), filled in as a lead guitarist for Shannon, a club performer in Atlanta. "My cousin gave him my number and he came up," Shannon says. "There was an immediate connection musically. We played for four hours that night...like we'd been playing together for a long time." Indeed, each recognized the complement, and a partnership—albeit strictly as friends—was born. Immediately they began building upon their mutual love of "town and country," Hank to Aretha to Dylan to..., by writing songs, exploring their natural harmony, and looking to take their dreams to the next level.

Not everyone was as excited about the duo's new found commitments; the moment they stopped playing the audiences favorite cover tunes was also the moment they hit their first wall. "At one point we got fired from every standing gig we had," Adam recalls. "And we'd actually been making a living at it!" Shannon quips about being let go on an answering machine, even showing up for one weekly gig to find another band already on stage. Yet together they gladly accepted this fate. Adam adds with a laugh, "Many nights at those clubs and bars we'd be playing old country and blues songs and someone in the audience would request a current radio hit, so we'd say something like, 'we don't know that one, but how 'bout this cool, old Willie Nelson song?'"

Confident that they were on to something unique, each went back to waiting tables and electrical work, day jobs into writer's nights. "Actually, losing those cover gigs was probably the best thing for us," Shannon says. "That freedom allowed Adam and I to focus on writing." In addition to songwriting, they recruited a band, started booking their own shows, oh, and they also fell in love.

Turning back the clock, it's easy to see why The Wrights would feel so certain, both as a duo and as partners. Adam's family is awash in musical tradition. From his father's piano playing—heard through the wall the baby grand shared with Adam's bedroom—to his mother's singing, and of course his uncle Alan Jackson's steep country influence, an apprenticeship in music was only natural. It seems even teenage punishments served to bolster his deft guitar work. "My parents would ground me from everything but playing my guitar. They'd send me to my room and I'd be on cloud nine 'cause I'd just crank up my amp and play all day!"

About the same time in nearby LaGrange, Georgia, a young Shannon was adorned with similar surroundings. Alongside two very musical parents, she also recalls the front-porch singing of her grandmother, as well as her grandfather's prolific instrumental ability...all of which affected her early on. "We still have these little tapes from like 1978 of me singing Kenny Rogers and Linda Rondstadt songs while strummin' on the ukulele. It's hilarious. That's all I've ever really loved to do, sing and play music."

Having labored to fuse a distinct, mutual style and encouraged by the reception their songs were earning, in 2002 the Wrights decided to move to Nashville. The couple wanted to surround themselves, to push themselves to create and perform in a town where profuse country talent is displayed on every block, any night. As Adam notes, "From the first songwriters night we went to in town we were just floored. We thought, 'We really need to step it up.'"

By now a near-instinct, each took day jobs (Adam worked construction, Shannon waited tables) in order to play the small stages at night. "Our main focus was on our music," Adam says. "We were writing and playing as much as possible." The Wrights' focus landed them on the Grand Ole Opry stage and as an opener for country music icon, Loretta Lynn. Accordingly, dedicated fans began to congregate at their shows, as did the industry. Keith Stegall was impressed with the band's growth. As the music hit full-bloom, their hard work enveloping every note and beat, he and co-producer John Kelton signed on to move The Wrights into the studio.

In the studio, Shannon, Adam and long-time band mate Alex McCollough were joined by celebrated Nashville musicians Eddie Bayers, Hargus "Pig" Robbins and Paul Franklin. ("We were blown away," Shannon says. Adam, who played lead guitar on all the songs, adds, "They had to make me take solos. I just wanted to listen!").

Resulting are the twelve songs—again, all written by The Wrights—set for release in May of 2005. Overall, the refreshing collection of tunes embodies two restless dreams come together at a chance meeting on a random night down in Georgia. Listening to the couple and their tuneful symbiosis, one can't help but acknowledge the patient craft, talent, and strength attained when two halves flow so seamlessly together.

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